“…and…. why haven’t they changed?” Navigating the Complex Journey of Personal and Organisational Change

Both people and organisations struggle to change. Change is hard for everyone, whether one person or a whole organisation.

My individual clients sit in the therapy room with me. New ways of looking at and being with the world can be daunting. Like trying to write with your non-dominant hand. Do clients practice their new-found insights outside of the therapy room? I sense that most don’t. Or they practice and then feel overcome by discomfort. It’s the hard work of therapy where the whole world becomes a therapeutic space. Some clients try to find an easy, practical answer in our therapy room. One magic insight that solves their problems. Yet rewiring one’s parasympathetic nervous system takes time and work. Shaping the circuitry of one’s neural pathways and thoughts does, too. As does influencing one’s family or work dynamic.

Speaking of work, organisational clients struggle to change too. I reject the idea that “70% of changes fail”. This idea sells consulting projects yet lacks empirical evidence. Projects introducing organisational change drag on. Key people get bogged down in needless complexity. This bogging down often masks a fear. Fear of making the wrong call; fear of condemnation from peers.